


The Cellist

by bunnysworld



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Crushes, First Meetings, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-24
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-05-13 05:15:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14742647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnysworld/pseuds/bunnysworld
Summary: Merlin gets to meet his favourite artist





	The Cellist

**Author's Note:**

> Sequel to [Cello](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14742611)
> 
> The plot for this one is from brunettespet. It begged to be written. 
> 
> So, hon, this is for you.

Merlin blew out another breath, the third in the past twelve seconds.

“Are you alright, dear?” The look mam threw him was somewhere between concerned and amused. 

He just nodded and wiped his hands on the sides of his best trousers again and then unconsciously checked if his bow tie was still in place. 

“If you’re not feeling well, we can leave. We don’t have to do this.”

“No! Nono, I’m fine.” Merlin knew she was teasing him, but he didn’t care. 

After the concert she had dragged him to, where he had first laid eyes on the wonderful Arthur Pendragon and encountered his beautiful music, Merlin had been very disappointed when the blond musician hadn’t appeared at the reception. Still, he had bought the new album and listened to it on his old mp3 player so many times that he could hear the music in his mind even when he wasn’t listening. He pictured Arthur playing and how he moved with the music he made and the look on his face and more than once he had been lying in his bed, wanking to the images in his mind. 

Of course mam had noticed that his taste in music had taken a full swing into a completely different direction or else they wouldn’t be here now, in the corridor backstage, after she had surprised him with a ticket to one of Arthur’s concerts that happened to take place just as they took their yearly weekend trip to Ireland. Or maybe that hadn’t been a coincidence at all but a well-planned scheme of his mam. Merlin didn’t mind.

He had enjoyed a great concert. More than an hour of looking at Arthur, seeing the way he moved, the way he tenderly held his instrument and how he seemed to become one with the music had fed Merlin’s imagination. Now, he was as nervous as he had never been before in his entire life. Not even when he had to confess to mam that he had broken her favourite vase back when he was six. 

Briefly, he wondered how she had managed to arrange a meeting backstage after the concert and which strings she had to pull, but found, he didn’t care. He was here and about to meet the greatest bloke in the entire universe. 

Some manager guy had instructed them to wait right there and not to wander off. He had gone to talk to Arthur, then came back to tell them it would take a few minutes and had been called away by someone coming over the headset he was wearing. 

“Calm down, sweetheart. If you keep pacing, you’ll just run holes into the carpet.” Mam grinned. 

Before Merlin could answer, a door opened and Arthur stepped out. All Merlin could do was stare. This wasn’t the Arthur from stage. This guy wore old jeans and runners, a red hoodie and his hair was still wet. As gorgeous as he was in a suit on stage, this look made him appear more human and Merlin swallowed hard. 

“You’re the Emrys family?” 

This was the first time Merlin heard him talking and he loved the voice already. Not trusting his own voice, Merlin just nodded.

“Mr. Pendragon! I’m Hunith and this is my son Merlin.” Mam introduced them.

“Arthur. Just call me Arthur.” Arthur made a face. “Mr. Pendragon is my father.”

Merlin couldn’t help but giggling. 

“It is such a pleasure meeting you and I won’t take up much of your precious time. We’re just here to thank you for your wonderful music.”

Arthur seemed to have heard this line many times before and the smile on his face was a well-practiced one. “Thank you. I were nothing if not people like you took an interest in it. I’m very grateful for my audience and all your support.” 

Even though all of these were rehearsed lines, sentences that someone had written for him a long time ago and that Arthur had said so often that he believed in them, Merlin’s insides went jelly when Arthur sent him a small smile. 

“We had the pleasure of listening to it at that concert in Camelot about four months ago and it’s your merit that Merlin took an interest in classical music.” 

“Is that so?” Arthur turned a bit and smiled at Merlin.

It didn’t escape Merlin that Arthur looked him up and down as he did. 

“Err…yeah…it’s…” Wonderful, fantastic, the best thing I’ve ever listened to. “Nice.”

Merlin could feel that his mam wasn’t happy with that answer and blushed when Arthur started to laugh. 

“Oh, I know it can be deadly boring.” Arthur still grinned. “And to be honest, in my spare time I like to listen to 80s music. All those power ballads and bombastic orchestrations…One day I want to do with the cello what Nigel Kennedy and David Garret have done with the violin. If they ever let me…” The smile had slid off Arthur’s face.

Merlin had no idea who those people were and what they had done with the violin, but he couldn’t stand the sad look on Arthur’s face. “I’m sure you will be able to. And it will be great.” Everything Arthur did was great, right?

Arthur laughed. “You have never heard those names before, have you?”

Blushing a bit more, Merlin shook his head. “I only just started finding out how wonderful classical music can be. Thanks to you.”

Now it was Arthur’s turn to blush. “Thank you. You know, it’s nice being able to do what I love, but sometimes I can’t help but wonder if it will do any good. Sitting in a studio for days on end, playing the same pieces over and over, is rather lonely. I like getting immediate feedback a lot better.”

“I haven’t heard anything I didn’t like so far. But it’s a lot more powerful to see you on stage.” Merlin shut his mouth and bit his lip. This was awkward, why had he said this?

Arthur smiled widely. “You have no idea how good that feels. Usually it’s just women who could be my grandmother or old blokes who pretend they know my music better than I do. It’s great to talk to someone my own age.”

Merlin blushed deeper. 

“I need a photo to remember this moment by.” Arthur declared and pulled an iphone out of the pocket of his tattered jeans. “Selfie time!”

Merlin tried not to hyperventilate when Arthur stepped close, put his hand on his shoulder and brought his head close to his so they would both fit on the photo. It didn’t escape him that Arthur took a few photos and smiled widely for all of them. 

He was sad when Arthur let go, but noticed he hadn’t stepped too far away. 

“Merlin, dear, maybe Arthur would be so kind to send you this photo, so you have a souvenir from this moment, too?” 

Oh, mam was still there. Merlin had completely forgotten about her presence. “Oh, yes, that would be…I could take…I guess I’ve forgotten my mobile at the hotel.” He shrugged apologetically. “Would you send me one of those?”

His heart was beating wildly as Arthur handed his iphone over so Merlin could punch his number in. Arthur would send him the photo and he would have his number! He would send a polite or maybe cheeky thank you back and depending on how Arthur reacted to that, they could…

The heart, that had been beating furiously just a moment before, almost stopped when his mobile clearly beeped out a melody in the pocket of his trousers. Of course he hadn’t forgotten it at the hotel! He never went anywhere without it! Why had he lied? He hadn’t expected Arthur to send the photo right away! What would Arthur think of him now?

Arthur paused for a moment when he heard the first notes of his best-known piece that Merlin used for a ring tone for messages, then threw his head back and laughed. 

Merlin wanted the earth to swallow him whole. Now. It felt like the tips of his ears were on fire and he would never live down the embarrassment. 

“You know what?” Arthur grinned widely at him, even though there was still a slight blush on his face. “I was about to sneak out and get some food. Eating alone is so boring…so…would you…you aren’t hungry, too, by chance?”

Merlin ignored that his mam masked a laugh with a fake cough as his eyes lit up and he nodded fiercely.


End file.
